Celebrating #BrownBoyhood with Melanites Action Pals! [We Are The World Blogfest]

I heard about the We Are The World Blogfest a while back, but I was unsure of how I would actually be a part of it. #WATWB is a blog hop that encourages bloggers to share good news.

The problem? Most of the news I see these days is bad news.

I was hesitant, but I had a free hour, so I figured I would give it a shot. A quick Google search for “good news” later, I had my topic: Melanites Action Pals!

What Are Melanites Action Pals?

Melanites Action Pals are boy dolls with brown skin created to “celebrate brown boyhood”. There are four character types represented in the Melanites line: Thinker, Doer, Maker, and Performer.

Why Brown Boyhood?

Creator Jennifer Pierre saw a problem with the way toys are created for and marketed to children today.

She believes that strict gender roles – evident in the “pink” aisle for girls and “blue” aisle for boys – pigeonholes children and limits their imagination, and when you add race into the equation, it further fuels a divide in our society.

From the Melanites website:

“Studies have shown that kids gravitate towards toys that reflect them and with our society’s very prominent diverse demographics, its no wonder that there is a need for a makeover in the aisles. There are more multicultural children being born under the age of 5 and that is shifting them from the ‘minority’ to the majority of children.”

How to Support Melanites

While the fundraising for their prototype creation is over, you can always head over to the Melanites website to pre-order the first available doll, Jaylen, a storybook that features him (Jaylen & the High Five Machine), a poster of any of the four Melanites, or a Brown Boy Brilliance t-shirt.

Related Causes

If you want to go further in supporting brown and black boys and girls in the world, check out some of these charities:

• National CARES Mentoring Movement
• Black Girls Rock, Inc.

Click here to view this Linky Tools list for the We Are The World Blogfest!

If you want to be notified when I make a new blog post, you can now subscribe! Click over on the side of the page where it says GET EMAILS to be notified when I post. If you also want free stories, updates, and special offers not available to anyone else, you should definitely join my Constant Readers group.